


Just You Wait

by themoonisgay



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Avatar the Last Airbender, Genderqueer Character, M/M, legend of korra AU, probending, that would be laf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 07:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7882585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoonisgay/pseuds/themoonisgay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander Hamilton lands in Republic City with a dream and no means to obtain it. He expects next to nothing from the shimmering metropolis, but a group of combative street urchins and elitists alike quickly open up their ranks for him. They show him the best and worst of their city, from probending tournaments to terrorist regimens, and in return, he joins the fight.  </p>
<p>(a legend of korra au)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just You Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a Hamilton/Legend of Korra au, but you don't need to know about Legend of Korra to understand what's going on. 
> 
> (In case you're completely unfamiliar with avatar: the last airbender or legend of korra, here's a debriefer: there are four elements: water, fire, earth, and air. along with these elements are their respective nations: the fire nation, the southern and northern water tribes, the earth kingdom, and a bunch of air temples. many people are born with bending abilities, as in they can manipulate their given element with a mixture of mental focus and martial arts style movement. there are some secondary elements that a select few can bend too- certain earthbenders can bend metal or lava, certain waterbenders can bend blood, certain firebenders can bend lightning. some people cannot bend elements at all, and they are called Nonbenders. One person is the Avatar, the master of all four elements, and is reincarnated throughout history. there is no Avatar present in this story, so I won't bother going into more detail. this story is set in Republic City, a metropolis outside the confines of any one element's nation, and it is this universe's version of NYC. The time period is very similar to our 1920s, with flappers and swing music and period-typical city streets.) 
> 
> I will continue to update you on notes about the universe as it's necessary. Enjoy!

Alex gripped tight onto the poles bordering the small bow. The metallic bar was cold and grounding, therapeutic as he kneaded his calloused knuckles against it. The action seemed to sedate his nerves enough for his eyes to cling to the view: the widening, yet still distant, silhouette of Republic City, framed elegantly by the waves soaring past the ship. The city of dreams, his mother had called it, all those years ago. A small sigh fell from his lips, his mind wandering to what he imagined the streets looked like, bustling with pets and Satomobiles and vendors. A place to begin again, and Alex was definitely ready to start over.

He breathed in some of the cooling mist trailing past. The saltwater tickled his face- refreshing, with a tangy aftertaste that reminded him of the shores back home. He closed his eyes, shunning away thoughts of warm beaches before they could warp into vivid flashbacks from the hurricane. The only water he couldn’t bend, he laughed at himself, and it had cost him plenty. It had cost the entire island plenty. No, this wasn’t the time to think about home. It was time to think about the future. About becoming a new man.

There was no room for his past in Republic City.

The voice of the ship’s captain echoing through the intercom system luckily prevented his thoughts from spiralling. “Attention, passengers,” the speakers bellowed, “We will be arriving in Republic City shortly. Please gather your belongings and await our docking in the first floor lobby. It has been a pleasure sailing with you!” A small click followed and the speakers returned to playing the local radio’s swing station. The music wasn’t unpleasant, if a little bit out of place.

Alex bent down to pick up his rucksack and followed the crowd, savoring the last of the ocean air before taking the stairs down to the first level. The line to disembark was long and full of impatient businessmen in tweed, the occasional group of tourists, and the one woman in front of him holding two coffees and drinking profusely out of both. Alex tried to stifle a laugh, but she noticed and turned around, glaring at him. Her eyes shot daggers and her demeanor seemed blunt and calculating.

“Sorry,” he took a step back, halfway between amusement and absolute terror. Not that he couldn’t take her or anything. Not at all.

A beat passed as she stared him down, Alex standing motionless in his spot, ticket stub crumpling in the tight grip of his hand. Eventually, she drew out a faint smile and, somehow balancing both coffees in the crook of her elbow, offered him her hand. He took it and hoped she didn’t notice the small layer of sweat on his palm.

“Angelica Schuyler,” she introduced herself, voice not unlike those of the charismatic and somewhat disconnected stewardesses on the ship. She seemed friendly enough, though.

Alex smiled and straightened his back. “Alexander Hamilton,” he replied. He considered a small bow but decided last moment it’d be too far. Instead, he released her hand and stuffed his own into his tunic’s pocket.

“You have a bit of an accent,” she pointed out as she shifted forward in line to fill the empty space. Alex followed, trying to focus on the upbeat piano riff drifting through the room. “Are you from the South Pole?”

“No,” Alex answered, maybe a bit too quickly, as Angelica raised an eyebrow.

She only brushed some dust of her peacoat, another pause before she coerced him farther. “Then pray tell, from where does your accent originate?” She seemed just genuinely curious, but Alex couldn’t help but bite his lip at her intrusive questions. She was just a stranger, after all.

“I, uh,” he stumbled, “I’m from a small water-bending island a bit north of the Southern Air Temple.”

Angelica hummed, eyes diverting to the approaching stewardess. She held out her ticket stub, and after the woman gave her a brief nod, followed the dwindling line forward. Alex’s stub was quickly hole-punched and he met his new acquaintance at the entrance to the gangway.

“I’m from Republic City, of course,” she said, even though he had never asked. Alex couldn’t decide if he liked her or not yet; he was a bit apprehensive of the way words rolled indifferently off her lips, but maybe that was just a trend among the city-goers. Either way, he followed her down the creaking steps. “My father owns Future Industries, so I was just off on a business trip for him. It seems fate decided the right day for me to book passage back home,” her voice perked up, a tinge of sarcasm threading through it. Alex rolled his eyes.

Their feet finally met the stone port and Alex smiled obtusely. He was finally in Republic City. Brimming with excitement, he grabbed her hand and pressed a friendly kiss to her knuckles. “If it takes arriving in the city for us to have met, then it will have been worth it.” Angelica’s cheeks reddened, but a short _ahem_ from behind probed them to keep walking before Alex could question it. They continued treading down the port, passing fish vendors and waterbenders practicing.

“So why are you here, anyway?” Angelica pressed, keeping close to Alex as they followed the crowd out towards the streets. Alex wasn’t sure why he was still even following her, but she wasn’t bad company, he decided, and it wasn’t as if he had anything better to do. He actually didn’t have any sort of plan for his new life here; he had decided to just wade through whatever path the city granted him.

He shrugged, avoiding filling her in with his complicated backstory and instead raising his palm. A burst of water popped out of his hand, and he dangled the spiral in midair for a moment before clasping his fingers shut and watching it disappear. Angelica stared, expression plain although her eyes shone with what Alex hoped wasn’t jealousy. “I might as well put my skills to use,” he finally answered.

In reality, he was here because he couldn’t protect the rest of his village from the hurricane, no matter how impressed everyone had been with his bending abilities, and he desperately needed to forget. Forget the fall of their bodies, the wet wind sharp against his cheeks, flush with defeat and grief. Forget that the few survivors had scraped together yuans to help him escape, probably sacrificing food funds to get rid of him. Forget that he couldn’t even save his own brother. But Angelica didn’t need to know that. She didn’t need to know that he sometimes flinched at his own bending. Alex took a deep breath and returned to his body, walking brisk on the sidewalk with a new friend at his side. Now was not the time.

“I bet you’ll do great in this city. It’s a bender’s paradise,” she smiled, faint, her last few words thinly veiled by a bitter undertone. “Somewhat less of a paradise for Nonbenders like me, but definitely not the hell King and his Equalists put it out to be.” She used air quotes around the word “Equalists” and shook her head. Alex had no idea what she was talking about. He knew what a Nonbender was, obviously, his own mother had been one, but Alex was suddenly aware of how sequestered from the rest of the world he had been on an island far away from the rest of civilization.

“Who’s King?” he asked, ignoring the shove of a hurried man that brushed him up against Angelica’s shoulder. “Or the Equalists, for that matter.”

“Oh, wow,” Angelica sighed, “You really don’t know that much about this city, do you? Here, why don’t you join us for tea today?” She posed it as a question, but it was really more of a command, considering she pulled him by his arm and dragged him along as she turned the corner. “We can tell you all about our city there.”

“Wait,” Alex protested, eyebrows furrowed and mind whirling with defenses. “It’s not that I don’t know anything! I just don’t come from somewhere that news really reaches, okay? But I’m not fucking stupid.” He released some steam, quite literally, from his fists, and breathed. His eyes clenched shut.

Angelica didn’t respond, but she did slow down to match his pace. “Sorry,” she finally muttered, “I didn’t mean to come across as condescending. I’m just excited to help you get your start in this city,” she smiled, wide and friendly, and Alex couldn’t help but wonder why exactly she wanted to help him. They had just been neighbours in the disembarking line. That was all. But he supposed he shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially considering he didn’t have any other contacts in town, or friends, for that matter.

“I’m sorry too,” he looked at her, “I didn’t mean to lash out. I’m just so used to people pitying me that sometimes it just gets into my head, you know?”

Angelica nodded, and they regained their quicker pace.

“We still on for tea?” he asked, hopeful.

“Of course.”

*

Angelica failed to mention that she lived on an estate. One with cherry blossom trees scattered across acres of land, fountains where birds fluttered past, and a simultaneously impressive and dooming mansion struck in the center of it all. A guard closed the gates behind them and Alex felt very small, suddenly. He never had this kind of luxury or wealth. Hell, he had spent five years on the street for that matter, desolate and desperate. This was something new to him, this environment. Alex tried not to trip over his boot laces as he followed Angelica up the cobblestone path and through the front door of the mansion.

The lobby was huge, to say the least. Alex’s eyes flew across the room, noticing the polished wood floors, the couches and chairs draped in red velvet covers, the fireplace mounted on the far wall and the grand staircase curving up around the edges of the room to an open second level. Candles were scattered across every surface, a radio perched in the center of a low mahogany table. Sunlight gleamed through the high windows and blanketed the room in a pleasant glow, and for all of Alex’s apprehension towards wealth, the room made him feel instantly at ease.

Angelica emerged from an upstairs room, followed by two girls around her age. Alex hadn’t even noticed her leave to begin with, so caught up in the grandness of her home. The girls walked down the stairs- at least, Angelica and the one with the sweet smile did- the last chose to slide down the railing, earning herself a scowl from Angelica. She stuck her tongue out and Alex laughed.

“Alexander, these are my sisters,” Angelica beamed. She gestured to the taller one, and Alex noticed her smile was even sweeter up close.

“Elizabeth Schuyler, but please, call me Eliza,” she said, and her voice was as sweet as honey, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine,” he grinned.

Eliza giggled, bowing her head as a cascade of black hair draped half her face. She was stunning, and Alex couldn’t help but smile at her faint blush.

“Alright, lovebirds, suck it up,” came a voice from behind, and the shortest sister pushed passed her and Angelica, shaking Alex’s hand with more vigor than he had anticipated. “Name’s Peggy,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m a certified announcer for probending tournaments, competitive motorcyclist, and the only one of us Schuyler sisters to ever land a girlfr-”

“Time for tea!” Angelica nearly screeched, toppling over Peggy and forcing her onto a cushion. Angelica rushed out of the room, leaving Alex to sit down next to Peggy and bend his legs neatly underneath the low rising table. The whole ordeal was going pretty well so far, in his books at least. He wasn’t so sure how Angelica was fairing.

Eliza sat down on a cushion across from him, smiling. Alex glanced at her outfit, a sky blue tunic, not unlike his in shape, with white stripes zigzagging across. Peggy had a grey flight jacket on, something illegible stitched in cursive above her breast pocket. So these were the Schuyler sisters, he supposed. He couldn’t help but stomach the feeling that this meeting would end up being monumental for him.

“So tell me about yourself,” Peggy said, eyelashes fluttering and with a jokingly sultry voice. A small sound of discomfort flew out of Eliza’s lips.

“Oh, well, there’s a million things I haven’t done,” he blurted out, his words sounding more like a question than a statement now that he thought about it. He could feel his cheeks reddening and cursed mentally.

“As is the case for us all,” Angelica responded dryly, carrying a tray docked with pastries and a still-whistling kettle. She sat it down in the center of the table, and handed everyone a tea cup and saucer from where she had balanced them in the crook of her arm. Alex wondered if Angelica had been a waitress at some point.

After Angelica finishing setting up, she sat down next to Eliza and poured out tea for everyone. Alex took a large sip and instantly regretted it, the liquid not scalding, but definitely hotter than he anticipated. The heat bristled against the roof of his mouth, but he had to admit that the taste of hibiscus was pleasant.

Eliza pattered her fingers across the wooden surface, eyeing Angelica in what would have been an intimidating manner had she not had such a delicate disposition. Angelica, midway through a sip of her tea, raised an eyebrow questionably.

Eliza sighed, and turned to smile warmly at Alex. “So what do you do, Alex?”

Alex set down his too-hot tea and raised his right hand, letting a burst of the tea float up and flicker through the air in soothing patterns. He swirled it into a circle, then a line, until it naturally fell back into the cup, some splashing onto the saucer. Grinning, he explained. “I waterbend. I’m still in training, which is a loose definition of the word considering I’ve never really had a teacher.” Three incredulous looking faces met his, so he continued, “I grew up on a really small island and was one of very few who could waterbend. The others didn’t really enjoy my company much so I’ve always just taught myself, here and there. I’m hoping to find some career out of it.”

“Cool,” Peggy said, somewhat dismissively, as if she wasn’t too impressed by bending. Which was hard to understand, considering her job occupation.

“I think that’s really fascinating,” Eliza commented as she grabbed a scone from the basket, “When did you move to Republic City?”

“Uhh-”

“Today,” Angelica answered for him, “We met in the line to disembark this morning.”

“Yeah,” Alex nodded.

“Oh, so you’re completely new? What do you think of it so far?” Eliza pressed more, her face soft and her voice polite.

“I really like it, from the tiny amount of street life I got to see before Angelica escorted me here,” he chuckled. He twined his fingers together underneath the table, fidgeting weakly.

Angelica huffed and Peggy muttered a playful _“of course she did”_ under her breath that Alex was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear. Alex took another sip of his tea.

Eliza cooed and clapped her hands excitedly, “We should take you sightseeing!”

“That sounds fantastic,” Alex said, “Does tomorrow work for you all?” He glanced at the three sisters. Peggy’s hair bounced up and down as she nodded affirmatively, while Angelica smiled and Eliza cheered. A moment passed as Alex reveled in the sisters’ energy; it seemed contagious to him, and the smile edging on his face only proved himself right.

“So,” Angelica leaned forward, setting her folded hands onto the table with lean grace, “A few of our friends are competing in a probending match tonight. Would you like to join us?”

“I would love to,” Alex grinned, hoping the charm he was trying to impose threaded through his words. In all honesty, he had very little idea of what he was getting into, with these Schuyler sisters and their high society and their pearl necklaces (it was really only Angelica with the formal attire, but she carried the necklace with such firm elegance she made up for her sisters’ more casual styles). Why they showed such an interest in him was confounding and unknown, not that he wasn’t about to go along with every word, every invitation. He didn’t have much else to do, and they were good fun. They were so welcoming, too.

“Awh! Come on, Ange!” Peggy whined, knuckles grazing against her forehead with an aghast drame. “You _know_ I’m not announcing tonight. How am I supposed to brag about how cool I am from the stands?”

“You never really stop bragging,” Eliza headbutted in, stifling a giggle.

Angelica tipped her head in Eliza’s direction, agreeing, “You should have thought of that before you chose to do next week’s match instead.” She stared at her fingernails indifferently.

“I’m not in control of the schedule as much as you peg me to be.” Peggy huffed, ignoring the blatant logical fallacy and instead blowing raspberries and crinkling her nose. When met with no response, pardon a cough from Alex and a raised eyebrow from Eliza, she sighed and flopped her head onto the table, mumbling, “Whatever. I call shotgun.”

“What’s ‘shotgun’?” Alex asked.

Angelica laughed. “It’s the seat to the right of the driver in a Satomobile,” she explained, as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. But behind her condescension was a shimmer of understanding, as if she was joking her way through sympathy. Alex noticed her peculiar intent, but just nodded in her direction.

“And Peggy’s not getting it,” Eliza declared, “I always get shotgun; I have longer legs.”

Peggy pouted her lips before letting a disgruntled moan escape. Alex could tell that beneath all her whining, Peggy was just joking. She didn’t exhibit the same aura of spoiled elitism that Alex expected of the upper class. Instead, she seemed to be mocking their society in her own sarcastic way. Alex enjoyed the silent commentary.

The rest of their conversation flowed elegantly; Alex learned that Angelica was seceding her father as manager of Future Industries, Eliza volunteered at an orphanage for at-risk youth, and Peggy- well, Peggy was doing something, probably. Soon enough though, it was time to leave for the match.

“Come on!” Peggy whistled, grabbing Angelica’s keys from a glass bowl and tossing them at her sister. “We need to get going now, so I can make bets with Laf!”

“You know that’s unfair of you, Peggy. They always lose; you know more about the teams than them!” Eliza protested.

Peggy only pushed them all out the door, their heels skidding onto the cobblestone outside. “And they still keep betting, so I’m not gonna fix what’s not broken,” she winked, smirking deviously.

Angelica only rolled her eyes and briskly led them to her Satomobile, a royal blue one with a hooded carriage. Peggy and Alex tumbled into the backseat while Angelica hopped in front of the wheel and Eliza slid into the “shotgun” seat, as they had called it. The cushions were plush and well-worn, and the wheels clunked against the pebbly road as Angelica drove them out of the courtyard. The evening streets were filled with a calm wind, street lights shadowed by the orange sunset. People flooded the sidewalks, adults walking home and children running through parks. The scattered outside energy was visceral, and Alex beamed at the opportunities it held for him. He was so invested in watching the carefree city outside the car’s window he didn’t notice the sisters bickering inside.

“Just let me ex-”

“-I _told_ you, Peggy, we’re not joining your weird motorcycle gang,” Angelica sighed, exasperated. Peggy huffed as the eldest sister turned the wheel sharply and glided the car into a large arena space, finally settling to a halt on the curb. The four of them jumped out of the Satomobile and reconvened in front. Alex couldn’t help but look up at the giant arena in front of him, all bright lights and loud cheers. The roaring crowd, the stomps of people flooding into the stadium, and the blast of pre-game ads pounded within his ears pumped a rush of blood through his veins. He had heard snippets of probending commentary on the radio when the local cafe putzed with it enough for it to work, but he had never actually seen a match. God, was he excited. All the opportunities of the city were opening up to him, and he hadn’t even been there a full day.

Peggy led them through a backdoor, singing, “Employee advantages!” and they climbed up a tower of concrete steps. Eventually, the stairs pathed way to a circular hallway. She opened a door to the left and they entered an open-faced locker room, where four people were chatting. Three of them were piling equipment on, helmets covering their faces, while the fourth lounged on a couch and picked at their nails absentmindedly.

“Laf!” Peggy screamed, and the one on the couch tilted their head up.

“Oui?”

“Betting on your friends tonight?” she asked, crossing her arms with a smug look on her face. Alex and her two sisters were helpless but to just watch this exploitation go down.

“Of course,” Laf nodded, and nudged a finger forward, causing a blast of wind to blow a pouch of yuans towards them. They caught it and handed it to Peggy. Alex had never seen airbending before, and his jaw felt slack. The air flowed so elegantly, even in the circumstance of irresponsible wagers.

Peggy grabbed the money and added her own stack of yuans to the bag. “Then I bet the Jolting Jaguars will win,” she smirked.

One of the men shouted an indignant _“Hey!”_ while adjusting his helmet.

“You can’t possibly think we’re gonna lose, Peggy!” The shortest one yelled, almost let-down at his friend’s lack of loyalty, if not for the chuckle that followed. A bundle of curly hair protruded from his helmet, and his chin was covered in faint, adorable freckles. Luckily, the rest of his face was covered by a glare of light on his glass visor, or else Alex might have fainted from his beauty. It’s best to leave some things to the imagination, he decided.

The last member of their team just shrugged.

“And I bet my dear Liberty Lions will take the, how you say, win,” Laf nodded. It was only then that they noticed the three people standing behind Peggy and jumped to their feet. “Angelica! Eliza!” they screeched, greeting them both with two kisses to the cheek. When they got to Alex, they only perked an eyebrow upward. “And who is this _petit lion,_ Peggy?”

“Alexander Hamilton,” he puffed his chest out, desperate to deny his “petit” build, as Laf had called it.

“A pleasure,” Laf grinned, their fluffy hair falling in front of their face as they jokingly bowed. “I am Monsieur Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and there’s more to that name,” they supplied a wink, “But I’ll spare you and let you call me Laf or Lafayette. I use they and them pronouns and nothing else, so if you are to get along with our troupe, then you will respect that.”

Alex nodded diligently as a burly man in full probending armor pushed past the airbender. “I’m Hercules Mulligan,” he huffed, “But I go by Herc. That over there,” he pointed a thumb to the boy with the pretty hair, “is John. But call him Laurens; he loves surnames.”

“You know I can introduce myself, right?” John gruffed, tightening his knee pads.

“Whatever,” the last member of the Liberty Lions groaned, “We have to get out there. The game’s about to start.”

“Yeah, yeah, we heard ya, Samuel,” Herc crossed his arms.

John sighed and the three of them marched through the open archway and onto the platform leading to the arena. The crowd roared as they appeared, and the announcer wasn’t slow to begin introducing the team. Alex just couldn’t believe they got front-row seats, practically.

“Employee advantages,” Peggy whispered, as if she was reading his mind. Alex rolled his eyes and leaned against the waist-level banister separating the open locker room from the rest of the arena, watching the three men glow under the spotlight. He fixed his eyes on them and his ears on the announcer.

“-after winning their last five matches, the Liberty Lions are excited to join the quarterfinals, if, that is, they manage to scrape past their vicious competitors, the Jooolting Jaguars!” Suddenly, the lights flickered off the Lions and reappeared on the other side of the arena, where three people stood in intensely yellow armor. Their uniforms were a stark contrast from the Lion’s muted red attire, and they stood in formidable fashion.

“Non,” Laf mumbled, biting their lip, “They look tough, and I can’t afford to lose more money.” They sighed and rubbed their forehead before shouting, “Go get ‘em, tigers!”

The two teams walked along their catwalks until they met face to face in the middle of the rink. The referee was lecturing them, but even from their short distance, Alex couldn't decipher what she was saying.

“So how exactly does this sport work?” Alex turned and glanced at Lafayette.

Lafayette audibly blew a strand of puffy hair out of their face as their eyebrows jumped up. “Well,” they began, a bit pensive, as if they didn’t know where to start, “There are two teams of three. Each team has one earthbender, one waterbender, and one firebender.”

“Who’s who for the Liberty Lions?” Alex asked, eager to learn as much as possible about his new acquaintances, or friends, if they weren’t hesitant for him to call them that.

“Herc’s an earthbender, John’s a fan of fire, and Samuel waterbends, if you can call his hideous moves bending at all,” Peggy pursed her lips.

“It’s true,” Angelica nodded, “I don’t know why they chose Samuel. He’s an atrocity.”

“Why not have you play instead?” Alex asked Lafayette.

Laf only shook their head. “I am an airbender. We are very few and sparse in between. The bending world of Republic City was not made to host airbenders, as we are only now beginning to regain our population. I am content to watch my friends, though.” Lafayette smiled warmly as they stared at them.

Eliza stayed silent throughout the discussion, her eyes trained on the referee, who was tying her tight curls into a high bun as she spoke to the teams. The announcer was listing off a lot of stats and numbers that Alex couldn’t keep up with, so he kept his attention nearby.

_“Voyez,”_ Laf pointed at the hexagon-shaped arena, which was seemingly suspended in midair, about one hundred feet above a pit of water. The ring itself was lined with ropes on the left and right sides, while the edges directly behind each team’s backs left no protection from falling into the water. The catwalks that led both teams into the arena had disappeared.

“The teams have to stay on their half of the ring,” Lafayette explained, and Alex noticed that the far side of the ring’s floor was a soft blue, while the territory the Liberty Lions stood on matched their red equipment. “Each half is made up of, how you say, three zones. The teams start each round in Zone One, closest to the midline. If a player is knocked past the line separating zones, they have to stay in that next zone. The goal is to knock your opponents farther into their zones until they are pushed off the ring and into the water. If a team knocks all three members of their opposition into a farther zone, they can advance into the emptied one. Whichever team has the upperhand when the timer runs out wins the round. There are three rounds, a two out of three sort of match,” Lafayette finished, articulating wildly with their large hands.

“And,” Peggy butted in with an index finger pointing up, like she was waiting for Lafayette to forget something, “If it’s a tie, then the referee flips a red and blue coin, and the winning team of the coin toss gets to choose an element for a one on one battle to settle the score.”

“Don’t forget that if all three members of a team are knocked off in one round, they automatically lose the game,” Eliza gently added.

Angelica shushed them, lifting her chin up and probing them all to stare at the arena. As if on cue, the lights began to dim around the seats and the announcer started reeling intense introductions as the crowd roared. The energy shrouded the stadium in heated anticipation and Alex grinned under the weight of it all.

The referee blew her whistle, and they were off.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! comments/kudos are always appreciated   
> *thumbs up emoji*


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